To Save The World
by Benson4015Beckett41319
Summary: In order to save the world sometimes you've got to make some sacrifices. Unfortunately sometimes it costs more than it's worth. I really need more action on S1E16 when Elizabeth could have died in Iran. This is my take. Please read and review. Rating may change in the foreseeable future I'm not quite sure yet.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: I know I haven't updated my other stories in a while but I have writers block and I have so many other ideas for stories that I reallt needed to get rid off. I have receantly got into the new series Madam Secretary and when I watched Tamerlane i really needed something with a lot more drama. I live for drama and I really needed to see Elizabeth closer to death than what she was. I really liked Fred so I also didn't want him to die. Also most of thedialogue in the sceances in this chapter actually happen in the episode but have been altered to achieve my goal. I shall try and keep it as realas I can. I may also develope some of the relationships between Elizabeth and her family. Please review if you would like more. Will update within the next week as long as i get a few reviews. Might make into a crossover later on with something. I know sort off where this story is heading but I will accept any ideas and take it into account.**

Chapter 1: What Happens In Iran?

"Well, I am glad you chose me as your CIA boyfriend, Elizabeth," Minister Javani stated with a half smirk half smile on his face.

Elizabeth looks up at him, "Well, me too." Then she pauses for a brief second before continuing, "Fortunately, I've always had good taste in men."

"You know, you coming here, um Shiraz, Ayatollah Ruhmeini, the other ayatollahs we're impressed. Especially me." Javani continued.

"Well," Elizabeth begins as she rises to here feet and walking towards the Iranian minister. "You took the first step, coming to see me in DC. The thought wouldn't have crossed my mind to come here, if you hadn't done that."

Javani replies, "Elizabeth McCord, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." She lets out a slight chuckle at his remark.

Abdol enters the living room with a text book in hand. He walks towards his father. "Father, I can't figure out this algebra problem."

Elizabeth smirks as she says "Oh, been there." Just as a phone begins to ring.

Javani replies to his son, "Try again. If you are still having trouble, I'll help you… after I'm done" he turns back to face the Secretary, as Fred answers the phone.

Just then a blast shatters the glass window, before gunfire erupted and all hell broke loose. The Secretary was flung across the room along with the Minister. Fred rushed over to Elizabeth while screaming, "Madam Secretary, get down, get down!" As he flung himself on top of her in order to protect her from any of the flying bullets that was being fired at the house. She felt like she was being crushed to death.

She couldn't move towards Abdol, she wanted to protect him. She desperately wanted to protect him from all this. She knew that Javani was dead; he didn't need to see his father lying dead in his own living room. "Abdol," she attempted to protect him, "Abdol… stay down." Her breathing becoming laboured.

Everything was beginning to fade to her ears, the echoes of gunshots and bullets ricocheting of every surface. Fred who was on top of her, noticed that something wasn't quite right. "Ma'am… Ma'am" he rolled of her and saw the blood coming through her light, sky blue blouse. He immediately pulled her along the ground towards cover were he could assess the damage.

Once behind the cover of the wall, he knew that she had been hit and was losing blood fast. He added pressure to try and slow down the bleeding. Then he tried again to see if he could get her to remain conscious, "Ma'am… can you hear me? Bravo one to bravo two, spooks is hit, I repeat spooks is hit. I need immediate medical attention."

"This is bravo two, copy that. Preparing to enter now." A couple of seconds pass before the door to the Iranian minister's house was broken down by Diplomatic Service agents.

They immediately began clearing the path to the secretary of state. Fred kept the pressure on the wound on her back as tight as he could as they lifted her, to be carried to the black SUV.

\- Madam Secretary -

President Dalton entered the command room with his chief of staff by his side after learning the news of the coup in Iran and the disappearance of the Secretary Of State. "Where are we?"

Admiral Hill looked up to see The President walking towards her, "Sir, the Iranian Army and the Revolutionary Guard are fighting elements among their own ranks that are well equipped and highly motivated."

"What about Secretary McCord?"

"We lost touch with her detail right after the attack at Minister Javani's house."

Russell decided to step into the conversation between The President and Admiral Hill by asking, "How could we just lose the Secretary of State?"

"It was a massive assault." Admiral Hill continued to The President and his chief of staff. "We're getting reports that Javani is dead. It's possible that Secretary McCord's detail was completely overwhelmed."

Frustrated Russell turned to Nadine the chief of staff for the Secretary of State, "Does the State Department know anything, ?"

Nadine looked up to him and replied, "We've been back-channelling through the Swiss and Czech embassies in Tehran, but so far nothing."

Then someone else spoke up, "I have one of Secretary McCord's detail on a video feed." The President turned towards the voice that was giving him somewhat hope. The soldier continued to say, "John Kendall."

"Put it up, Major." The authoritive tone of The President followed.

Fussing was heard throughout the command room as the Major brought up the live video feed. "Mr. Kendall, do you have the secretary?" Russell Jackson questioned.

"Yes, sir." Replied the agent taking a pause before continuing, "She was hit, sir. We are trying to slow down the bleeding now, sir."

"Is she conscious?" Everyone in the room turned to face the screen to know if there was any hope for survival.

"Yes, sir at the moment but she has been drifting in and out now for a while." Then a moan ripped the room as they could hear Elizabeth in pain.

"In your opinion, is she going to make it?" Came the exhausted voice of The President.

Kendall shook his head while replying, "Honestly, I have no idea. Now with the power grid down, any chance at …." The screen went black just before the agent was able to finish his sentence.

Russell shouted, "What the hell happened?"

The Major replied, "The Iranians just jammed all communications." Looking towards The President as he finished.

The President turned to face Admiral Hill, "Admiral Hill, send up a recon team. I want helos in the air on the Iranian border the moment we locate Secretary McCord."

"Yes, sir." Replied the Admiral.

Then a deep voice beside the Admiral broke the two second silence, "Mr. President, we're getting reports of attacks on government leaders, including President Shiraz and Ayatollah Ruhmeini."

"Are they dead?"

"We can't say for sure, sir."

Russell turned to The President and whispered in his ear, "We might be getting behind this thing whether we like it or not."

Before being interrupted by the Major, "BBC's Web site just went up with news of the coup."


	2. Chapter 2

**I was trying to get this up last night but my internet connection was playing up so only putting it up now. I hope to puta new chapter up every week on either Friday night or Saturday morning. Thanks for all the follows and the fav and also the review I received so far on this story would like to get more feedback from you all it helps me to make the story better. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review.**

Chapter 2: A Waiting Game

Henry charges towards The President's chief of staff, "Russell, where's my wife?" Just before the reply came he interrupted Russell, "Don't give me the company line, Russell"

Russell turned around after setting the file that he was reading on the desk in front of him, "I honestly don't know." Placing his hands out in surrender.

"Tell me exactly what you do know?"

"I'm sorry Henry, I believe Nadine already told yo…"

"I want to hear it from you!"

"We believe that while she was at Minister Javani's house the coup began and there was an explosion. We were able to get in contact with a member of her detail before the Iranians put up a signal jammer to stop all communications around Iran. We were able to find out that although she was alive at that moment, she was severely injured. We are so sor…"

Henry becoming infuriated at Russell for sending his wife to Iran along with the whole situation. He grabbed his suit jacket and held him against the wall, "You and The President knew the risks! You signed off on it too."

Interrupted by another voice entering the room, "Yes, I did." Henry immediately let go of Russell to turn around to be face to face with The President of these here United States.

"Conrad." Henry breathes out.

"Henry I want to bring her home just as much as you do?"

"Well I appreciate that, but let me be clear.." As he began moving closer one step at a time, "if she doesn't make it… and I find out that you've left any asset untapped and any strategic option unexplored, if you've missed any opportunity to save her, I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL HOLD YOU responsible." His voice growing in volume towards the end.

Russell walked up behind Dr. McCord and said in a low voice, "Remember who you are talking to."

"It's okay"

"You find her and bring her home. Alive." Before walking out of the office and out towards the SUV waiting for at the front of the White House.

\- Madam Secretary -

Elizabeth lay on a bed within a military bunker somewhere beneath the ground of Iran. She heard someone calling her name but didn't know where it was coming from. She opened her eyes to see medical personnel swarming around her. Unaware of where she was she tried to get someone else's attention. "W..Where am I?" She breathed out in laboured breathes.

Fred was instantly aware of the Secretary's voice floating towards his ears he turned around to see her lying on the bunk partially conscious. "Ma'am… Ma'am," trying to make sure he had her attention before continuing. "We are still in Iran. In one of the military bunkers."

One of the medical personnel in the bunker then turned to Fred, "You need to allow her to rest and retain her strength for the journey back to the US, as she will need to make this trip as soon as possible. We are trying to stabilise her now."

Elizabeth was unable to keep her eyes focused for long and had soon drifted back into the blackness of her unconsciousness.

\- Madam Secretary -

Henry walked in to the house that afternoon. It had been two nights since the failed coup in Iran and his wife was still not home. He was glad that Jason didn't know that his mother was in Iran when the coup was happening, but he was beginning to worry about his two daughters along with the already worry about his wife.

He was more worried about Allison than Stevie because she was the one in the family that worried about the smallest of things. He walked into the kitchen to find his youngest daughter standing by the kettle watching it boil.

"Hey, Noodle. What are doing home from school so early?" Stated but came out like a question, as he glanced down at his watch to check the time. "School doesn't let out for another hour."

Then he noticed the tears in the corner of her eyes. He pulled her to his chest as the floodgates began to open. "Honey, what's wrong?"

"Mum she isn't home yet." She lifted her head of her father's chest and looked up at him with tear stained eyes, "I'm really scared, dad."

He pulled her back to his chest once again and allowed her to cry out her tears as they soaked his shirt. All while her whispered sweet nothings in her ear. He had manoeuvred their way out of the kitchen and on to the sofa and that is where he spent the next half hour, trying desperately to hold back his own tears as he comforted his youngest daughter.

\- Madam Secretary -

Stevie walked into a quite house, hoping that her mum would be home soon. She didn't know the last time that she told her mum she loved her. She realised now that all those years that she spent arguing with her mum couldn't be took back or replaced with happy memories. She realised now that if her mum died all she would have are the memories of them arguing. She regrets that now but what she would give for the chance to see her mother one more time.

She walked into the family room to see her dad and sister asleep on the sofa. Her sister still in her uniform, she glanced at her watched and realised that Jason would be home soon and there were to many questions that were going to be asked if he were to find Allison sleeping in her uniform never mind on the sofa with their dad.

She walked over to their father and gently nudged him awake as to avoid waking Allison for now. "Dad… Dad…you need to get up." Her father began to open his eyes as he realised that some of the kids was calling for him. "Dad wake up"

"Okay, I'm up." He whispered as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. "What is it?" He asked as the focus came back into his eyes he noticed it was Stevie standing in front of him.

"Jason will be home any minute, and I sure don't want to explain to him why you and Allison are lying asleep on the sofa and why she looks like she has been crying."

Henry sat up on the sofa realising what his eldest daughter was referring to because he sure didn't want youngest child knowing that his mother might not be coming home to them. He didn't need Jason worrying about that with him halving only started his new school that day.

He nudged Allison awake and told her to go get changed out of her uniform before her brother got home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Was suppose to put this up earlier but only getting around to it now. Thanks for all the new favorites and follows and reviews. Hope you enjoy and please review I like to read what you think of it so keep reviewing and I'll keep updating.**

Chapter 3: Homecoming

President Dalton entered the command room that morning, three days after the coup in Iran failed. "Where are we on bringing the Secretary home?"

The communications officer looks up from where he was typing on a laptop, "Doctors in Iran say she has been stable the past three days, but flying could cause more damage as she is still struggling to remain awake for long periods of time."

Then a voice from behind The President spoke up, "If that's the case then you are either going to need medical personnel on board with her or she is going to have to remain in Iran until she is more aware of what's going on." The man moved towards the centre of the room, " 'Cause the change in altitude could cause numerous different problems. With medical personnel on board the chances of them occurring are greatly reduced and I doubt that any of the Iranian doctors that have been taking care of her would board the plane."

"What if we fly the best medical personnel that we have that are trained to do this sort of thing to her, would that improve the chances she has to being able to fly."

"Yes, but it won't eliminate them. There is a 20% chance that something will happen on that flight when there are medical personnel monitoring her condition it would raise to 60% if there was none. If she were to stay in Iran for much longer her body might give up as she isn't getting the treatment she needs."

"So what your telling me is that she is more likely to die if she stays in Iran any longer than she is if she was to be flown home."

"Yes, sir"

"I don't really see another option," President Dalton turned to Russell his chief of staff, "Have Dr. Macklebee flown out and be in Tehran by tonight to bring Elizabeth home." He began to leave but suddenly stopped and turned to face Russell once again. "I want the Secretary Of State on American soil by tomorrow evening."

"Yes, Mr. President."

\- Madam Secretary -

Henry McCord just stood in the middle of the kitchen with the house phone gripped tightly in his hand. "Henry, you still there?" Came Russell's monotone voice across the phone. "Henry." Then there was a loud clatter as the phone meets the tiled floor of the kitchen in the McCord household.

Henry let out an agonising sob as he backed up against the wall he couldn't believe what Russell had just told him. His wife was alive and she was coming home. He had no idea what state she was in but all that he seemed to be able to do was cry now that he knew she was going to be home in a couple of hours. He was at a loss for words.

When he finally regained his composure he grabbed the phone that sat a couple of feet from him. "When is the plane going to land?"

"Tonight, she will be going straight to Georgetown University Hospital."

"Why is she going to the hospital? I thought she you said she was going to be fine."

"Fine as in she is alive for now, but all I know she needs substantial medical treatment. We have no idea to what extent. We have sent a medical team to make sure she will remain stable throughout the flight."

"Okay, thanks." Henry hung up the phone just before Jason came running into the kitchen with his laptop in his hand.

"Dad, Dad." Came the youngest of the McCord children.

"Give me one minute Jas, I need to phone Stevie. Could you go get Ali for me?"

"Yeah, sure." Jason replied before running up the stairs to get his older sister. "Ali, dad wants you." He said as he entered his sister's room.

"Don't you ever knock?" She asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Ali what's wrong?"

"Nothin' Jas," She got of her bed and grabbed Jason's arm on her way out the door. "So what does dad want?"

"No idea." He replied to her with a shrug of his shoulders.

Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs Stevie opened the front door. "Dad!" Shouted Stevie as she seen her younger siblings descending the stairs.

"Living room." He called back, and then the three McCord children gathered into the living room with their father. They all sat on the sofa opposite their father who looked a bit apprehensive. "Jas you know a couple of days ago when you had said that there was coup in Iran." Jason nodded his head at this statement. "Well your mother found out about it when she was looking into the plane crash that killed Secretary Marsh. The trip that she is on right now it was to try and prevent nuclear war between us and the Iranians. She went to Iran because it was the only way to do that." Henry paused for minute in order to retain his composure, but it was a minute too long.

"Dad, what are you saying?" Asked the youngest child.

"I'm saying that your mum was in Iran when the coup began. She was in Minister Javani's house…"

"Dad," He interrupted his father before he could finish explaining the situation that they were in. "They said that Minister Javani died in his house when the coup began." Then it hit Jason like a ton of bricks, "No, dad she can't be." Tears began to fall down his face as the realisation dawned on him that his mother was probably dead too.

Realising what his son was thinking he began to reassure him. "No, No mum's not dead. She's coming home right now she will be home by tonight." He moved towards his children. Allison was crying into Stevie's shoulder while Stevie stroked her hair. Henry moved to Jason and wrapped his arms around his son.

They sat like that in each other's arms for what felt like forever but was only about half an hour. Allison raised her head of Stevie's shoulder. "Can we meet at the airport?" She asked in such a quiet voice Henry almost missed it.

"I'm sorry honey but no. They are taking her straight to the hospital as soon as the plane lands."

"Which one?" Stevie piped in.

"Georgetown, we can meet her there if you guys want?" They all nodded in response. Henry then got to his feet. "Okay I'll get them to tell me when the plane lands and we can meet her there."

\- Madam Secretary -

Elizabeth lay asleep for most of the flight but as the plane began to descend she began to stir. She gradually opened her eyes to find Fred sitting opposite her. The dull pain of the headache she has had since she woke up in the bunker began to increase as they got closer to the ground.

Noticing the pain in her face Fred got up to get her a glass of water and the doctor to see if she could be given anything. "Here drink this." He said as he passed the glass to her. The doctor began to approach her when she lost the grip of the glass and shattered on the floor of the plane. She sunk as far to the floor as she could and her breaths began to get shallower.

She couldn't get her lungs to take in enough air for her iritic heartbeats. Her chest began to constrict as she began to panic that she couldn't breathe she felt like she was going to die.

Elizabeth reached out to grab Fred's arm, "Fred.. I need.. you.. to get.. Henry." She said between breathes.

Fred crouched down to her level so he could hear what she was saying, "Ma'am." Was all he said to let her know that she had his undivided attention.

"P..please... tell.. Henry.. that I.. love him."

The doctor administered a sedative to calm her down, and she almost immediately was taken into the darkness of her mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is chapter 4 hope you all enjoy. Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favs they are always appreciated. Would love to hear more back from you all about what you think or should happen. I may take some of these ideas and add them in. Please don't forget to review they help with the creative process.**

 **Disclaimer: I keep forgetting to add these into my chapter posts. Well anyway if I owned MS we would have got more action scenes involving Iran. Well anyway it's not like I own a time machine or time-turner so i can go back and invent the show before Barbara Hall.**

Chapter 4: The Unknown

Henry thanked Fred and hung up the phone. He was so grateful her Security Detail was fond of her so they were literally willing to die for her. It made him sad thinking that they died, leaving their wives and children alone, just so that he could have his beloved wife back. It was just another time Henry felt God went silent on him.

He must've checked his watch every 20 seconds since Fred had called to tell him that they were leaving. He knew there was still time until they arrived, but it seemed to him like time just stopped, now, of all times. He wanted to walk into the hospital and her to run to him and wrap his arms around her and to have her arms wrapped around him. And then it sunk – the realization that he didn't even know if she was walking on her own, or if Fred was going to have to wheel her into the hospital. And then his heart began racing, his mind looking for answers – the house was not suitable for her – all the bedrooms and bathrooms were upstairs. He couldn't believe he didn't think of this before, and now she was nearly there and he had no suitable place for her.

It was then that Stevie walked into the living room, finding her dad sitting on the couch, his eyes moving rapidly, clearly thinking of something, his face possessing panic. "Dad? Hey, what's bothering you so much?"

"Stevie, what if she can't walk? I don't know if she's walking on her own".

Stevie took the place next to him on the couch, resting her hand on his shoulder "We'll manage Dad. Worst case, you move to a hotel room for a while."

"What if it's not for a while? What if it's permanent?"

Stevie suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Could her mom really be hurt that badly? "Dad" she started, swallowing hard. "We'll remodel or move, whatever it takes. Don't worry about this. She's coming home, that's all that matters."

Henry nodded, his eyes filling with tears. Stevie was right – all that really mattered was that she was coming home. He would deal with the rest, as long as he had her with him.

\- Madam Secretary -

As the plane landed on the runway the ambulance sat just beyond the hanger with two paramedics stepping out of the cab. The plane rolled up toward the hanger and the door was immediately opened and the paramedics climbed aboard.

"So what we got here?" asked the first paramedic to the flight attendant, as she climbed the couple of steps to the entrance of the aircraft.

A man in a suit with an earpiece wrapped around his ear and continued down the back of his shirt stepped forward before the flight attendant could answer. "Please step over here ma'am?" indicating with a gesture of his arm as to where he wanted her to go. A second man dressed just like the first just stepped out from behind the curtain, which was separating the gangway entry from the rest of the plane, as the second paramedic ascended to the top of the small number of steps.

"You too sir?" commanded the second guy in a suit. "Pass over the bag and arms out stretched and feet apart please." They both complied with the orders they were given the male paramedic handing over the bag of medical supplies on his back to the guy in the suit that had asked.

The bag was then handed over to the first guy who rummaged through it, while the second guy patted both paramedics down. Confused at the security on the plane one joked, "What is the President on this plane or something?" and both paramedics let out a small chuckle at the thought that wasn't very far from the truth.

\- Madam Secretary -

The ringing phone echoed throughout the silent house of the McCord family. On the third ring someone came running down the wooden stairs in a way that can only be described as a herd of stampeding cows.

The phone was picked up on the fifth time it rang. "Hello."

"Jason, where's your dad?" Came the female voice across the line.

"Don't know, him and Stevie left only 5 minutes ago."

"Once he gets home, tell him to ring Fred."

Knowing that Fred Cole was the head of his mum's security, Jason became more worried. "Why what's going on?"

"Nothing, Fred just wanted to make sure that your dad was still going to meet them."

Remembering the conversation that the family had earlier about their mum coming home, about going to meet them at the hospital instead of the airport. "Yeah I think that's still on, but I'll tell him that Fred's looking for him."

"Thanks Jason."

Jason hung up the phone first; everything was becoming much too real for him. For all he knew his mum could be dying. It was all becoming too much for Jason to handle, he just wanted him mum to be able to hug her one last time.

Jason finally cracked he sank to the cold hardwood of the front hallway and cried for his mother's safe return to them.

Jason's cries had quietened to silent tears, he had been able to pick himself up from the middle of the hallway at some point during his breakdown and move to the side so he was able to lean against the wall.

A half hour later Stevie arrived, to find Jason sitting on the floor by the door. Stevie noticing that her baby brother had been crying took of her coat and set in on the phone table before sitting on the floor beside him.

"Why don't you tell me why we are sitting by the door for starters and then why we are sitting on the floor?"

Jason told Stevie about the phone call from their mum's chief of staff. "Okay that answers why we are by the door but not on the floor."

"I miss mum." He sobbed.

Stevie wrapped her arms tenderly around her brother as another wave of tears hit him. After a couple of minutes the sobs died down until silence enveloped them.

"Stevie, I'm worried about dad." He blurted out.

Stevie turned to face him, "I know, I am too but we need to be strong for him and mum now they need us."

"Okay," he mumbled though the sleeve of his jumper as he whipped away the tear stains that ran down his face.

Standing up on her feet Stevie offered a hand to pull her little brother up. She looked at her watch and decided that they should probably get going. "Alright, come on lets go see mum."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to review.**

 **Disclaimer: I need to get myself a thief to steal the rights to the show unfortunately I live of a students salary so i don't have enough money to pay him, so I guess the rights still don't belong to me.**

Chapter 5: The Full Extent

"Dad… dad where's mum?" Stevie's loud voice came through the thick fog clouding his mind. Jason came running up the solemn hospital corridor not too far behind his sister.

Jason seeing the sadness in his eyes immediately stopped running towards his father, knowing that the look on his face was not one that said his mother was going to be fine. "Dad, NO!" Jason screamed as he thought his mother was dead, he began to turn and run when his father grabbed his arm.

"Jason…" his father called his name as he tried to break free from his father's grasp. Henry wrapped his arms around his only son to prevent him from running away as a tear made it's was down his cheek. He hated to see his family in such pain. "Jason, listen to me."

Jason eventually calmed down in his father's embrace. "Jason, your mum is fine for now." They moved towards the plastic seats in the private waiting area that they had been escorted to. Stevie sat on the far side of their dad as he comforted Jason.

He had sent Frank to get Allison from her friend's house a half hour ago, so he knew that she should be there any minute, so he decided to wait until she arrived before he told his children anything about their mother's condition.

\- Madam Secretary -

When Allison came running through the doors of the waiting room. She ran straight into her father's waiting arms. Henry dismissed the agents nearby in order to talk to his children in private.

Henry guided Allison to the seat that he had just vacated between her other two siblings. He knelt down in front of them and began to tell them about their mother's condition. "Okay, now that we are all here, I have to tell you something." He paused for a second to gain his composure to tell his children their mum wasn't alright. "Mum, she, umm.. well she…" He stuttered. "They took her to surgery when she arrived; they are removing the bullet that is lodged in her back. The doctors in Iran had missed one that had gone deeper than the rest."

"But she is going to be okay," Jason blurted out.

Henry didn't want to lie to his children especially when it came to their mother, so he broke the cold hard truth to them as gently as possible. "We don't know. They are doing everything they can." Now tears were running down every face in the room."

Henry stood up along with all three of his children and wrapped them up in his embrace, "I know that this is going to be a long road for all of us, but I want you to help me out until your mother is able to regain some normalcy. Okay"

They all nodded their acknowledgement, before sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chairs.

\- Madam Secretary -

They had all fallen asleep in the OR waiting room waiting on news that Elizabeth had made it through the surgery. In the early hours of the morning Henry awoke to Frank gently nudging him awake. Henry immediately thought that something had happened to his wife while he was asleep and Frank was going to tell him that his wife was dead.

"No, no this can't be happening." He said in a low voice so he didn't wake his children. Frank sensing that Henry was struggling not to raise his voice, led him into the hall way so that the McCord children could continue to sleep relatively peacefully.

"Doctor. McCord we just received word that your wife is out of theatre now."

"Thank-you, Frank." Henry took a deep breath before looking up to see a doctor in blue scrubs heading towards him.

"Doctor McCord," Called the man dressed in the blue scrubs.

Henry stepped forward, "That's me."

The man raised her hand to shake Henry's. "I'm Dr. Richardson, I'm the head surgeon who is treating your wife. Your wife had lost a lot of blood before she got into theatre so we had to give her a blood transfusion before we began and another halfway through the surgery. We were able to remove the built that was lodged in her lower back. The bullet nicked her spinal cord," Hearing this he nearly lost his balance, his wife was going to be in a wheelchair and he didn't know how long.

"What are the chances she is going to walk again?"

"I'm sorry we won't know really until she wakes up, but at the moment we are looking at 60% chance of walking again, but that is only being made from what we have seen in theatre. Since she was not treated here right after it happened only she can tell us how much feeling she has in her legs."

"Can I see her?"

"Yeah, she is in room 210."

Henry thanked the doctor before entering the waiting room where his kids were.

\- Madam Secretary -

Henry stood outside room 210 not sure what he should expect behind the door. He opened the door to find her pale form lying against the thin white sheets of the hospital bed.

"Oh, Elizabeth." He approached the seat beside her bed, "I am so sorry." He sat down and grasped her hand. "I should have played the husband card. You wouldn't be here right now if I had." He brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on it. "Please, I need you to be alright, I don't know how to get through this without you by my side."

Henry sat there letting the silence engulf the room of the early hours of that morning. He knew that as soon as she was released from the hospital that she would want to go back to work but he also knew that if she didn't get the treatment for both physically and mentally she would never be the same person that she was before she left for Iran.

If she didn't get help he knew this was going to eat her alive.


End file.
